Improvement in means for preventing the loss of nuts from axles



I. B. BOYCE. Means for-Preventing the Loss of Nuts from Axles. No.208,669. Patented Oct. 8,1878.

III/ll N FEIERS. PHOTO UTHO UNITEDVSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC B. BoYonoF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN MEANS FOR PREVENTING THE LOSS OF NUTS FROM AXLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,669, dated October8, 1878; application filed April 2, 1878.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ISAAC B. Boron, of Lynn,in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Nuts for Axles of Vehicles and other purposes,of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates especially to axlenuts for holding the wheels ofvehicles upon their spindles, although it may be used in connection withsuitable shafts, rods, spindles, &c., of various kinds, and fordifferentpurposes.

It is, of course, well known that axle-nuts often become loose and dropoff, thus allowing the wheel to come off, and endangering life andproperty.

This device is intended to efiectually prevent all possibility of theloss of a nut, and hence the dropping of a wheel, and also to warn theoccupant of the carriage, by its rattling, that the nut is loose.

1n the drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate likeparts, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the spindle or axle and a sectionof the nut, the said nut and axle being detached. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section of the spindle and nut when the latter has becomeloose. Fig. 3 is a view, part in section and part in elevation, of thespindle and nut, the latter being in its proper position.

(t represents the spindle or end of the axle, and a the screw-threadwhich engages the corresponding screw-thread (Z in the nut 0.

bis a T-shaped bolt, either secured to or made a part of the spindle a,and provided at its. thick or outer end with the screw-thread b, whichengages the corresponding screwthread 0 out upon the bridge f, in thenut c, the spindle and nut represented being intended for a near wheel.The thread a is a left-hand thread, and the thread I) is a righthandthread, (or whatever would be the opposite of the thread a.)

g is a chamber in the nut 0, between the bridge f and the end of thenut.

In practice my invention operates as follows: To put on the nut, firstscrew the thread 0 cut on the bridge f upon the screw 1) cut 011 theT-shaped bolt I). This brings the spindle and nut into the positionshown in Fig. 2, the bolt 1) being long enough to extend from the mouthof the nut into the chamber 9. Then screw the nut firmly upon thespindle by means of the screw-threads a and d, as seen in Fig. 3. Now,if the nut becomes loose by unscrewing, so that it disengages itselffrom the thread (0 upon the spindle a, it does not drop off and let thewheel down, as would ordinarily be the case, but it drops into theposition shown in Fig. 2. The T-shaped bolt 1) lies in the chamber 9 andthe nut rattles upon the bolt b, thus acting as an alarm to theoccupants of the carriage; but it cannot come off, because, in order todo so, it must be unscrewed from the bolt 1) by means of the threads I)and 0. Of course this is practically an impossibility, as the nut hasfallen down, the upper side of its chamberg lying upon the screw-threadb of the bolt. This thread I), being usually (but not necessarily) theopposite of the thread a, adds even more to the safety of the nut. ThoT-shaped bolt 1) is made long enough, and the chamber 9 is made wide anddeep enough,t) allow of a considerable rattling, so that the driver mayhear it at once, although a carriage could run indefinitely withoutinjury beyond the gradual wear of the nut, even if the said nut were notsoon replaced in its proper position.

A slight variation of the details of the invention, and one which I mayuse in practical operation, is to extend the bridge f to ward or to theopen or outer end of the nut, cutting the thread 0 upon it as far as itextends toward the mouth of the nut. In that case the diameter of thespindle a, at the part where the thread a is cut, must be lessened inorder to engage the thread 0 upon the bridge f.

The principle of the invention, of course, would remain the same in thisvariation, as the T-shaped bolt would pass beyond the bridge in the samemanner and perform the same function as above described.

Fig. 4: illustrates the above-described variation of the invention.

Thus it will' be seen that the sudden dropvided with the T-shapedbolt 1) b, and the nut 0, provided with the bridge f, chamber 9, andscrew-thread e, all arranged and constructed substantially as and forthe purposes hereinbefore set forth.

ISAAC B. BOYCE. Witnesses:

HENRY W. WILLIAMS, B. W. WILLIAMS.

